German lawyer: defendant in ‘cocaine case’ was extradited to Russia prematurely
On July 31, Alexander Hamburg, the German lawyer for Russian businessman Andrey Kovalchuk told DW that his client was extradited from Germany to Russia before they were able to appeal the court’s decision. The Russian investigators accuse Kovalchuk, who had been living in Germany, of organizing an operation to smuggle cocaine from Argentina to Moscow. On Monday, July 30, as soon as he arrived in Russia, Kovalchuk received his indictment.
The request of Russian law enforcement for Kovalchuk’s extradition was reviewed by the High Regional Court of Berlin. On July 6, the Court ruled that the suspect’s extradition was “permissible,” however German authorities did not allow the defense the allotted time to appeal this decision, which was not set to elapse until August 6, according to Kovalchuk’s attorney.
“The expulsion came as a surprise since it happened relatively quickly,” Hamburg noted in an interview with DW. He said that Kovalchuk was expelled from Germany on Friday, July 27, at 10am, without his lawyer being notified. This same information was given to the news agency Interfax by the lawyer from the Russian side Vladimir Zherebenkov.
Andrey Kovalchuk, according to Hamburg, had claimed to be ready to appear before a German court and had objected to being sent back to Russia, because he did not expect to receive a fair trial there. “Crimes of this nature are considered global and, theoretically would allow for a trail in Germany, but the prosecutor’s office did not respond to our proposal,” noted Hamburg. Kovalchuk’s wife and young child remain in Germany.